Note: Blur founder Tieshun posted an article in the early morning , talking about the popular Blast. The content is now translated here, and his own understanding is attached at the end.

I see a lot of misconceptions going on about Blast. While many of these are humorous memes, it's important to clarify the following points:

1/ There is a theory that Blast is a Ponzi scheme.

The benefits Blast provides users feel too good to be true, so the meme is understandable. But in simple terms, Blast provides benefits that (initially) come from Lido and MakerDAO.

Lido yield comes from the ETH staking yield, which is part of Ethereum's proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. In this case, the earnings on ETH come from Ethereum itself.

MakerDAO income comes from on-chain treasury bills. Treasury bills are debt obligations of the U.S. government. They are critical to the functioning of the U.S. economy.

These yields are not unsustainable. They are core components of the on-chain and off-chain economy. In Blast, the yield feels too good to be true because Blast makes that yield the default for everyone. It provides users with benefits that are hidden in plain sight. In effect, the democratization of higher yields.

2/ I also saw another meme about Paradigm being responsible for the release of Blast.

I want to make this clear: Paradigm has zero involvement in Blast's GTM. Frankly, if they were involved, they would probably ask me to make a lot of changes to the release of Blast.

Paradigm is a research powerhouse. They helped invent Uniswap and Blend, and created Foundry and other tools to further develop Ethereum. We consulted Paradigm on the L2 technical design (launched in February) - they were excellent at it. We will not negotiate with Paradigm on GTM - we have internalized this.

In fact, Paradigm has asked me to make changes to the GTM plan after launch. Their recommendations are under active consideration. However, like any respectable investor, while they may disagree with the specific plans and offer their own advice, they leave the final decision to the entrepreneurs they work with. This is one of the many reasons I love working with their team.

3/ Finally, I've seen a lot of FUD about Blast invitation rewards.

While I'd like to take credit for it, Blast's invitation system isn't a new mechanic. Invite systems have been around for a long time.

I don’t like marketing mechanics just for the sake of “growth.” Given this, you might be wondering why Blast has an invitation mechanic. Taking a step back, Blast is nothing without community. As the first contributors to Blast, our goal is to develop the on-chain economy with the highest possible L2 returns. It takes a village to realize this vision.

There are many ways to contribute to L2. You can be a developer of the underlying protocol, creating applications on top of L2, or you can be a user of L2. A city is nothing without its people.

If you are a user and help Blast become a thriving L2 by bringing friends along, you are providing real value and should be rewarded for it.

This is why invitation bonuses exist.